Malcolm Barnard says in his book Fashion as Communication, "Fashion and clothing have always been explained as forms of communication" (39). American teenagers use fashion to communicate their feelings and beliefs. Throughout most decades teen fashion has proven to be a way of rebelling out how they feel and think about certain situations. They used fashion as a way of social contact with reference to scrutiny for all sorts of people. Fashion is a communication to use to convey with the world what their personality really says.
Fashion and history go hand in hand, believe it or not. Historical events in a time period reflects the way people living in the time dress, especially with teenagers, but it would not have started with out the Woman's Rights Movement. If it were not for the movements, would it still be a male-dominated society? It is scary to think about, what might not have happened if it were not for those who fought for privileges? In the first part of the twentieth century, fashion was beginning to make a radical change. Because of the first wave of working women making their way into American society, Victorian styles were suddenly unfashionable and the skirt and blouse combination became more accepted. The advancing feminine cause influenced many trends. Women, and their desire to conform with and show that they could do the same job as men, brought about such as the Gibson Girl, with her hourglass figure, her expertly upswept hair, and her unquestionable upper-class air, was everything American women in 1900 wanted to be.
Although women fought for the rights, in the 1950s teenagers started to take advantage of the fact they could express their feelings. Rock N Roll music made teenagers come out with their own ...
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...verbal anymore. Teenagers from different decades used clothing as away to show their freedom and to communicate their thoughts and ideas. Whether it be with the "swinging sixties" or our generation now, teenagers were always had some kind of issue to convey with their clothing. A protest or even just a trend, fashion is here as a way of communication for everyone.
Works Cited
Barnard, Malcolm. Fashion as Communication. New York: Routledge, 1996.
Laver, James. Costume and Fashion a Concise History. New York: Thames
& Hudson, 2002.
Rubinstein, Ruth P. Dress Codes, Meanings and Messages in American
Culture. Colorado: Westview Press, 1995.
Rubinstein, Ruth P. Dress Codes, Meanings and Messages in American
Culture, Second Edition. Colorado: Westview Press, 2001.
Taylor, Lou. Establishing Dress History. Manchester: Manchester University
Press: 2004.
The ‘60s were the age of youth, as millions of children’s from post World War II became teenagers and rebelled against the conservative fifties. Denying civil rights to African-Americans and liberation to teenagers in previous decades and Vietnam War, created a vortexes which lead to massive rebellion against the status qua. Music of the 1960s was characteristic of the revolution that was going on during the decade. It was a time of rebellion and counter-culture in which the teenagers and college students were critical of government, business, religious institution and other various aspects of life. Era marked by civil rights movement, Vietnam War, environment of drug abuse and sexual freedom formed new music like: folk rock, soul and psychedelic rock. These genres starkly contrast the teen idol music of ‘50s pop mainstream. Writes John Covach; “World was exploding, and rock musicians were listening more closely than ever.”(Covach, 152) Such stark contrast in pop music directly relay to changing social culture in America, which further echo’s the relationship between music and culture.
Before the big evolution of rock and roll, the United States was heavily involved in World War II. In this era, teens were expected to grow up at a very early age. Going to school was not one of the main priorities for these young adults during this time, and because of that "teens were expected to take life seriously. [Meaning,] the young men were expected to join the military or go get a job to support their family or their future families, while the young women were taught to take care of the household and prepare themselves to be a dutiful wives and to take care of their [future] children," (Cox). Even though they were expected to grow up early, “teens had very little economic power, freedom, independence, and input into [many of their own] decisions" (Cox).
Self-expression is of importance in any child’s life, but self-expression shouldn’t be a detriment. In my opinion, the way this generation dresses now is definitely harming their character and reputation. Many business professionals, professors, and more find this way of dressing offensive. Parents face endless amounts of criticism, and backfire for allowing their child (ren) to step of their home in such a fashion. It’s also harmful to future generations, because they follow in the footsteps of those older than them. Children learn by exa...
Women used to dress very conservatively and strict before the turn of the decade. Clothing consisted of fitted dresses, long skirts, and corsets in lady like manners. Since the 1920’s brought women’s rights along, young women decided that they were not willing to waste away their young lives anymore being held down to the rules; they were going to enjoy life. The younger generations of women were breaking away from their old habits and their fashion statements changed their roles in society completely. Women were modeling their lives after popular icons...
The sixties were a time of growing youth culture and youth fashions, which had already begun in the late fifties. In the west, young people were benefiting from the postwar industrial boom, and had no problem finding work. With extra cash in their pockets, they were able to spend more and had begun to refashion themselves accordingly. This higher demand in the fashion business brought out a new generation of designers. The freedom of extra cash meant room for more imagination and creativity, bringing out new and provocative fashion ideas.
It helps them make a statement, and show who they really are as individuals. Today teens express their true selves through clothing, music, etc.
Today’s American women are following centuries old traditions of rebelling against society’s outlook on women around. Earlier in America’s history, it was unheard of for a woman to be in both the public and domestic sphere. Women were forced to spend most of their life in the domestic sphere, and wear ridiculous clothes everyday. For a long time, women have been degraded and pushed around, causing women to initial movements to change the way society treats women. In America, “the land of the free”, women have to fight for their equal rights. Reformers, such as Fanny Wright, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer and many more have done so through their actions, and speeches. Nevertheless, in recent times fashion has become an available source of expression. It is a powerful tool to be able to be seen and not heard--but still get the message across. Since its humble beginnings, fashion has oftentimes just existed, but in the past century, it has existed as a form of expression, art, and liberation Now, women are still being influenced and challenged by the media and their peer, but slowly, more and more women are standing up for themselves.
Ever since their invention many centuries ago, clothes have been used as a way of communicating. The message communicated relies on a number of factors including the social background of both the communicator and the receiver, and the context in which the message is communicated. Although at times the exact message or symbolism one is trying to portray may not be clear, it is evident that clothing has long been embraced as one of the best ways to project one’s desired personal image to those around them.
In society today, the clothing that someone wears is basically a billboard for his or her personal, or family's financial situation. For children in public schools, fitting in with the popular, or most fashionable people is probably the most important thing to them. When children are preoccupied wi...
Marketing, advertising, and the media all try to influence the way our generation dresses. Their reasons are mainly profit based. We also make our clothing choices based on the Functionality of the garment. Consumers of our generation often look at the comfort, durability, and adaptability of a piece before purchasing. History has had a great influence on the look of most clothing worn today. Clothes reminiscent of the past are often known as "retro" which has become one of the signature styles of Generation Y. Clothing also helps us to express ourselves. Youth often choose clothing to reflect their unique personality. These factors are explained further below.
Generally, in the 60s people’s dressing was stilted, unattractive and confined (Tracy Tolkien., 2002). However, young people experienced the highest incomes period after the Second World War; therefore, they began to put more attention outside the basic human supply. Hence, the young boys and girls were start desired some fresh elements to add i...
The aftermath of World War I led America to the glamorous era of Flapper girls, jazz, and freedom, also known as the 1920's. This decade of giddy optimism brought on by the end of the war and the booming of the Stock Market ushered a direction away from the prim and modest women of the past. However, it wasn't just the roles and morals that became more relaxed, but it was also ladies' fashion and makeup that evolved. Fashion trends influenced theater, films, literature, and art and cosmetics gave beauty inspiration for today's makeup industry. Women were more confident and imbued with youthful vitality which they expressed with the fabulous style of the 1920's. The eye-catching fashion of the "The Great Gatsby" generation is the foundation of today's style. No other period in history was remembered the way the 1920's were thanks to the dazzling clothes, innovative cosmetics and freedom brought to women.
What is fashion and what importance does it have in people’s life? Is it hard to create fashion and who are those people who manage people’s mind and declare what is fashionable and what is not? Fashion started when people began to wear clothes. It was between 100,000 to 500,000 years ago. The way how people dressed indicated social status. Because of this fact fashion trends was established by royalty. In the 20th century when movie industry started to develop quickly, people began to watch how movie’s stars and celebrities wore. Despite this fact, people was mostly inclined on world leaders’ way of dressing. For example, princess Diana was setting the style although she wasn’t a fashion designer. Moreover “her iconic style continues to
In conclusion, fashion will speak out a person’s social signal, people dress on designs that blend with their social class. Just as population, social activities and fashion are changing with time. Fashion has made clothing to be convinient, everything needs to be done with the least effort and spend the least time.
Following fashion styles in order to be trendy and to look different and stylish in front of others by wearing different types of clothes and accessories. Fashion can be viewed in people’s style of outlook personality with clothing and hairstyle, style of living and behaving, along with the area of personal interest. Today’s youths are totally influenced by new fashion trends. Fashion brings an interesting twist in our boring life which makes us with feeling of confidence and up to date according to this changing environment. Youth generation is totally affected by this glamorous world of fashion. Their dressing style, hair style, accessories, language and personality all shows that how much they are influenced by fashion.